The ideal dietary regime for weight reduction is to consume about two-thirds of the food that it normally takes to keep the body in weight balance. The other one-third of the energy will come from body fat stores.
If an individual is to loose weight, they must reduce the mount of food it normally takes to maintain their body weight. All of the food eaten will be absorbed and will be metabolized by the body. The individual should continue to eat a balanced low-fat diet. During a weight reduction program a woman of normal weight should consume about 1,100 calories and a man of normal weight about 1,600 calories per day. Such a program is designed for a weight loss of about two (2) pounds of body weight per week.
When a person reduces food intake below that needed to support the energy requirements of the body, the liver begins to metabolize body fat as a source of energy. When body fat is metabolized in the absence of a proper balance of carbohydrate, the result is the formation of ketones, which result in ketosis.
In ketosis, the body acts to remove the ketones from the body through the lungs, bile and urine. The dieting person can taste the ketones and also smell them coming from their breath. Ketones can be toxic to the body if present in high amounts for an extended period of time.
Ketone production does not occur when there is a sufficient amount of proper carbohydrate present to "balance with" the fat that is being metabolized. To properly metabolize body fat, the liver requires some amount of carbohydrate to completely utilize this fat. When a balanced diet is eaten, ketones are not produced because the body can completely metabolize both the fat and the carbohydrate into carbon dioxide and water.
When the body is in metabolic balance the "hunger" desire is not present. During dieting the body will bum up the dietary carbohydrate and then start to use body fat. At this point the body is "notified" that it needs more food, so the dieter will feel hungry.
Animal trials have been done in the past few years that yielded unexpected and little-noted results.
Propionic acid was given to chickens for the purpose of trying to control salmonella in the digestive system. To the surprise of the researchers, the propionic acid did not stay in the digestive system but was rapidly absorbed into the blood stream before it reached the small intestines [FERMENTATION OF .sup.14 C-PROPIONIC ACID IN 12-DAY OLD BROILER CHICKS. Michael E. Hume.sup.*, G. Wayne Ivie, Donald E. Corrier, and John R. DeLoach. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Rt. 5, Box 810, College Station, TX]. This finding was a complete surprise to poultry scientists.
Propionic acid was given to turkey poults to overcome early mortality. This data shows that the gluconeogenic property of propionic acid helped the turkey poults to better utilize the fat of the yolk sac. Turkeys that were small and weak were able to maintain life in the presence of propionic acid [PROPIONIC ACID AS A DIETARY GLUCONEOGENIC SOURCE TO RELIEVE POULT "STARVEOUTS". V. E. Phelps.sup.*, E. T. Moran, Jr., and J. S. Spano, Poultry Science Dept. and Pathobiology Dept. Auburn University, AL 36849-5416].
Calcium propionate was used to cure mild fever and ketosis in diary cows. This confirms the assumption that the gluconeogenic properties of calcium propimate helped the diary cow to better utilize body fat without the production of ketones during the onset of milk production. At this time the cow needs more energy for milk production than she can obtain via food, so she utilizes body fat stores [CALCIUM PROPIONATE AS A FEED ADDITIVE TO COMBAT KETOSIS AND SUBCLINICAL HYPOCALCEMIA. J. P. Goff(Pdncipal Investigator) and R. L. Horst, Metabolic Diseases and Immunology Unit USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Animal Disease Center, Ames, Iowa 50010-0070; ORAL ADMINISTRATION OF CALCIUM SALTS FOR TREATMENT OF HYPOCALCEMIA IN CATTLE. J. P. Coifand R. L. Horst, USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Animal Disease Center, Metabolic Disease and Immunology Research Unit, Ames, Iowa 50010-0070].
U.S. Pat. No. 5,039,698 to Leung discloses a method of weight reduction using pantothenic acid as the active ingredient. The mode of action of pantothenic acid to reduce weight is by pantothenic acid acting to form Coenzyme A. The presence of Coenzyme A then causes the body to bum various metabolites to control weight and ketosis. One major disadvantage of this method is that pantothenic acid is not absorbed into the blood stream via the stomach wall.
Although calcium propionate has been used in human foods as a mold control agent, there is no suggestion leading scientist to conclude that calcium propionate could be used to help control weight.